Hurricane Melissa makes powerful landfall. Could the storm impact NC?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Melissa made a powerful landfall in Jamaica as a Category 5 storm.
- Coastal North Carolina may face beach erosion, rip currents, ocean overwash and flooding.
- Melissa will likely remain offshore but could bring coastal impacts later in the week.
Hurricane Melissa is expected to bring catastrophic winds, flash flooding and other dangerous conditions to Caribbean islands in its path, but the storm will likely have a lesser impact on North Carolina.
Melissa made landfall in Jamaica around 1 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28 as a Category 5 storm. It is one of the most powerful hurricane landfalls on record in the Atlantic basin, according to the National Hurricane Center.
As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, the storm was about 40 miles southeast of Negril, Jamaica, on the western edge of the island, according to the National Hurricane Center. It was moving north-northeast at 9 mph and had maximum sustained winds of 185 mph.
After making landfall in Jamaica, Melissa was expected to move across southeastern Cuba early Wednesday morning, Oct. 29 and across the southeastern or central Bahamas later Wednesday.
Hurricane warnings were in effect for Jamaica and parts of Cuba and the Bahamas on Tuesday morning, and a tropical storm warning was in effect for Haiti, parts of Cuba and the Turks and Caicos.
Hurricane Melissa impacts to NC
Hurricane Melissa is not expected to bring impacts to Central or Western North Carolina.
However, it may affect coastal North Carolina.
The region is already seeing the impacts of a coastal low. Parts of NC-12 were closed mid-day Tuesday because of ocean overwash, and rain, strong winds, coastal flooding and dangerous marine conditions were expected for Eastern North Carolina, according to the National Weather Service office in Newport/Morehead City.
But Melissa could bring impacts to the coast later in the week.
The peak impacts, including increased risk of rip currents, beach erosion, ocean overwash and coastal flooding, could occur overnight Thursday, Oct. 30 into Friday, Oct. 31, Charlie Bowen, a meteorologist at the NWS office in Newport, told The News & Observer in a phone call.
Melissa is expected to remain offshore, not approaching the U.S. East Coast.
When is hurricane season over?
Atlantic hurricane season continues through Nov. 30.
No hurricanes have made landfall in North Carolina this year, but a few have gotten close enough to the coast to cause heavy rain, flooding and erosion. Tropical Storm Chantal made landfall in South Carolina in July and traveled through Central North Carolina.
Melissa is the 13th named cyclone of the 2025 season. The next named storm would be Nestor.
This story was originally published October 28, 2025 at 1:59 PM with the headline "Hurricane Melissa makes powerful landfall. Could the storm impact NC?."
